Q1 sales events may prove crucial for dealership profitability, says Fraser Brown

 A willingness by car dealerships to stage Q1 sales events could be crucial to their profitability during 2022, says motor trade expert Fraser Brown.

With supplies of new cars yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, due in large part to the ongoing global shortage of microchips, there remains a delivery lag of several months which varies from make and model.

Fraser Brown, the founder and managing director of MotorVise Automotive, said that dealerships must remain agile and ensure they host sales events to secure factory orders.

He said “Getting ahead in the queue for new cars will drive ongoing profitability during what again may be a further period of uncertainty following the spread of Omicron. It could prove a crucial period for 2022.”

However, Fraser advises – with the public already showing signs of caution surrounding retail and hospitality – that dealers remind customers of their long-term Covid-secure procedures. Furthermore, a booking-in system that accompanies a sales event allows a business to safely manage the numbers within a showroom.

“They need to get potential customers through the doors during Q1 and in front of their salespeople, because, given that showroom stocks are low, those orders are most likely for vehicles yet to be built.

“Those dealerships doing well right now in terms of sales will have been holding regular events over the past six months and marketing hard.

“Even though cars ordered in Q1 may not arrive until April or May, these sold-only orders can be placed immediately, which allows the dealer secures its supply.

“Early orders also generate further business from the resulting trade-ins, which given the equally high demand within the used market is equally important.”

MotorVise Automotive has itself responded to the increasing demand for sales events by investing in its own state-of-the-art event management system – which ensures a high level of customer engagement.

This drives higher levels of enquiries and showroom appointments, which benefits both single site franchises and multi-group dealer groups.

Each event has its own unique contact management system which sends an appointment to the customer while at the same time organising the sale’s manager’s calendar.

It is also fully Zoom integrated so, should the worst happen, and lockdowns are reimposed, it can substitute physical for virtual appointments via automatic email and text invites.

The booking-in system also has the capability of ranking customers, while AI technology ensures that, when a dealership holds a future event, it can predict those customers most likely to respond.

Fraser added: “Many dealer groups have been able to meet the challenges of the pandemic by continuing to invest in their marketing and holding sales events – which is key to driving sales.”